Garbage

Look at all those plastic bottles

When I saw the following statistics, I immediately thought about the beach I went to in Haiti. It was completely littered with garbage, as were other areas, since there was a lack of waste removal in the country. But people still swam in the water, and one daring man in our group got into the water with some of the local kids. While he was splashing around with them, a man's shirt washed up alongside an old suitcase. Gary put on the soaking wet shirt and grabbed the suitcase, pretending that he was about to catch a ship back to America. The kids found his antics hilarious. The rest of us stood in tiny patches of clean(ish) sand on the beach, afraid of what we might step on.  Not the kids. They ran up and down and splashed in the water just like kids on any other beach. The garbage didn't seem to deter them at all. I suppose they don't know any different.

I, on the other hand, found that beach, and these numbers disturbing:

The International Coastal Cleanup is the world’s largest volunteer effort of its kind for the oceans. On one recent annual Cleanup, 390,881 volunteers in 104 countries and locations around the world collected an astonishing 6.8 million pounds of debris. The Top Ten item cleaned up on this day were:

1          Cigarettes/Cigarette Filters (3,216,991)

2          Plastic Bags (1,377,141)

3          Food Wrappers/Containers (942,620)

4          Caps, Lids (937,804)

5          Plastic Beverage Bottles (714,892)

6          Paper Bags (530,607)

7          Straws, Stirrers (509,593)

8          Cups, Plates, Forks, Knives, Spoons (441,053)

9          Glass Beverage Bottles (434,990)

10        Beverage Cans (401,412)

As an avid recycler myself, I often pick up bottles and cans strewn across the grass in the park. It amazes me how many people throw their garbage down in public parks and into people's yards. I can't simply walk by. When I see recyclables littering the ground, I feel compelled to pick them up. Sometimes I feel embarrassed about looking like a bag lady, picking up trash along the road. But then I think, no; I shouldn't be embarrassed. The people who left their garbage there are the ones who should be embarrassed.